Millions of dollars are spent each year on products and procedures to reduce facial wrinkles, in an attempt to delay the evidence of aging and to reduce the adverse effects of exposure of the skin to sunlight. Currently non-surgical options for reducing or even eliminating such wrinkles—at least temporarily, include the use of injected substances, such as dermal fillers, or muscle relaxers, e.g., Botulinum toxin. Hyaluronic acid, synthetic fillers, or even a patient's own body fat can be injected into the folds of the skin to change its contours, yielding a more youthful appearance. Other options for reducing wrinkles include chemical peels in which an acid is applied to the epidermal layer to enable dead skin cells to be peeled off, microdermabrasion in which fine crystal of an abrasive are applied to sand the skin, and the use of lasers and intense pulsed light, or heat treatments. Non-ablative and ablative laser or treatments actually provide a controlled damage to the skin, which promotes the body to respond by producing collagen that fills in or plumps the skin to reduce wrinkles. The greater the amount of damage, the more benefit that will be derived, since more collagen will be produced; however, more damage to the skin causes redness and will require longer periods to heal. Heat treatments also promote collagen production and tightening of existing collagen.
Many of the treatments noted above are relatively expensive and may require time to realize the benefits and allow the adverse side effects to heal. For this reason, cosmetic facial creams have been developed that are intended to reduce wrinkles in facial skin by moisturizing, smoothing, and tightening the skin in the region to which the creams are applied. The efficacy of such creams can vary, but none offer more than a temporary palliative.
Other non-surgical facial wrinkle treatments involve stretching the skin. One of the causes of wrinkles is the loss of muscle tone and resilience in facial tissue. By applying a force to the affected area that slightly stretches the dermal layer and smooths the wrinkles for a period of time, a reduction of the wrinkles in the skin that was stretched remains evident for at least a day or so. Regular application of such a stretching force on a daily basis can have an even more beneficial result in reducing wrinkles and providing better skin tone.
A system for applying a force to stretch skin in an area subject to wrinkles using an elastomeric strip or string is known in the art. Pads supporting the elastomeric strip or string are adhesively attached to skin at disparate points on the user's skin, so that the elastic force provided by the device tends to pull the disparate points toward each other, to stretch the skin adjacent to these points. However, this approach also tends to create wrinkles in the skin disposed between the disparate points, since the elastomeric force pulls the points towards each other. While reducing wrinkles in a portion of the skin to adjacent to where the apparatus is applied, it thus increases wrinkles between the two adhesive pads. Furthermore, although the user can initially set the tension applied to the disparate points on the skin, if used at night, the elastomeric strip or string can give and stretch when pushed against a pillow, thereby changing the tension force set by the user's adjustment.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a tension force to stretch skin subject to wrinkles, thereby smoothing the skin for a period of time, but without causing wrinkles in other portions of the user's skin. Thus, it would be desirable to prevent the apparatus being used to stretch the skin to reduce wrinkles from also causing wrinkles where the apparatus is being used. Further, it would be desirable for contact with a pillow to not alter the force applied by the apparatus.